Round 2
So after leaving the caribou and sheep in the north alive to see another day, the missus and I tried to take advantage of a bluebird weather window and bag my LEH goat.
Not having planned for this particular hunt I didn't have our cruise ship of an inflatable raft and every CanadianTire we went by was sold out. At the last minute we went with the only option available and grabbed a child sized play raft and decided to make the best of it. Getting to the river we saw how the hot days were melting the glaciers and the river was considerably higher and faster that the lazy river it was before. After gearing up we did a risk assessment (we both have whitewater experience and training) and decided to make the first try with just us and the rifle, then I would make shuttle runs in the tiny dingy alone if things went ok......
Note to self: if you think something is a bad idea, trust your gut and don't feel forced to continue.
Note to others: I occasionally make poor decisions and you may not want to follow me blindly.
We plan the crossing, wife loads, I load, the current starts pulling us downstream quickly and almost immediately we start taking on water.

Did I mention this was a childs dingy?

I bark orders, we draw/paddle for shore but can't acutally land now because its a crumbly gravel/cobble bank that is eroded and start to tumble downstream. At this point we both end up in the water and I grab the bank over my head with my right arm feeling the shoulder dislocate. Fortunately this slowed us down enough to dig our feet in for a second and wriggle up on the bank. A quick reassessment shows we are both fine aside from my shoulder and my much beloved Tikka was saved by my sweety! All things considered, this is a success in my books and we immediately move on to getting back to the truck, dried off and trying to reset my shoulder. Since this was the first dislocation ever it was tighter than hell and she couldn't fix things even with her foot in my armpit.

Almost two hours on a (freaken painful) gravel road later a very kind doctor popped the sucker back in and it was all good.....
Now for the hunting part: I'm out for a bit obviously and start what I'm told will be 3 months of physio at the end of this week. Anybody with experience on how quickly I can return to shooting? Carrying heavy loads in a pack? Crossing rivers when I know I shouldn't?

I have until November 25th to fill this tag and am motivated (in case you couldn't tell

).